My pup has been acting strange since Thursday evening - does not want to eat and she has very low energy. She ate breakfast on Thursday AM and had a poop Thursday afternoon that was normal. Yesterday evening she had another that was half normal and half mucous like diarrhea but she still didn't want to eat. I did get her to eat about a cup of food this morning by mixing in some wet food, but even then she wasn't excited about eating it, she did keep it down however.

My wife gave her a large rawhide on Tuesday that she ate about half of and my concern is that something isn't passing through very well. I took her to the vet today and they did x-rays, a barium treatment and blood work. Vet thought "something" looked "interesting" in her stomach, but not definitive, radiologist looked at it and didn't note anything abnormal. Nothing out of the ordinary in the intestines. Barium was passing through albeit a little on the slow side. They gave her some fluids, some canned A/D food, and a prescription for metronidazole and said call in the morning if she's still not perking up. After scarfing down some A/D food she does have noticeably more energy, but she won't touch her regular food.

Has anyone ever seen an obstruction with no signs of vomiting? If she did ingest a big chunk of rawhide on Tuesday could it be possible it's still hanging out in her stomach this long and not really causing any issues? Vet said if she's still not perking up the next step might be some exploratory surgery. Food and water is going in and coming out the other end (albeit in small amounts), so putting her under the knife because something "might" be there doesn't seem like the right thing to do at this point without some of the other classic symptoms, but at the same time if there is a foreign material in there that's not passing the time is ticking.... Is there anything else we should be looking at?

I'll preface all this by saying she's been acting a little weird around her food for the last month or so. Not eating as much (it's been hot though and she hasn't been as active) and just acting like she's not thrilled to be eating it, but she always did. She's been on PPP Large Breed puppy since I got her - she's 10 months old now.

I wonder what the percentage is of pups chewing rawhide is to the number of pups obstructed by rawhides?

It's a bit of a trivia question, I suppose. But too, you'd think if there were enough data the darn things would not show up on shelves??

Once upon a time friends / family would give those to me for the pups and I'd say, 'Thanks' and toss them out... bein' the nice guy. After some thinking though, I'm returning them with 'The Speech', figuring a bit of education and a chance for them to return them to the store is a better option than the landfill.

Rawhide typically digests, and is not a major concern for intestinal obstruction. I've taken just about everything out of the intestines, but never a rawhide. It does cause esophageal obstruction.

If your vet did X-rays and barium, you should be OK. Intestinal obstruction usually results in quite a bit of vomiting. Esophageal obstruction is drooling and severe discomfort. Esophageal is worse than intestinal, and if you think this is possible sending a camera down is the best way to rule it out.

Digestive or intestinal problems with dogs is so common, it's tough to give any particular diagnosis without stool testing and a dash off lucky guessing. First thing I do is put a dog on a bland diet, brown rice and ground meat, 50 /50. If the dog responds positively, it's half way to recovery from whatever was ailing it. Dogs get stuff, and get over stuff, with no explanation but a diet change might be all that's needed to get them on the mend.

I never give dogs rawhide chews or other meat/animals based entertainment objects. I think they're just asking for trouble.

Thanks all, a quick update, she's back to her normal crazy self! She never passed anything that I could tell. Got her to start eating again on a boiled rice and chicken diet and she slowly regained energy from there and is back on her normal food. I've never known anyone who had an obstruction from rawhide, but I've read about them, I think we'll play it safe and get rid of them either way though.

I never recommend rawhide chews or any other things specially made for dogs. The get a slice of American cheese every morning with their Ester C. I get them meaty bones once a month, and they love those beef rib lets. Everything is natural and there for people so there is no "I wonder if they are good for dogs or not.

Ignorance can be fixed but stupid is forever.Law of Logical Argument - Anything is possible IF you don't know what you are talking about.

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Jim Beam in one hand, Airedale in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

I don't doubt it for a second MissK. I know people that feed whole, cooked ribs to their dogs that have never had a problem, but, it only takes once. The rib lets I feed are from the end of the rib and cut to a thickness of about 1/2 inch. They got a lot of stringy meat and fat in them and they are never cooked. I cringe when I see people feeding cooked bones, but, bottom line is that it is their dog.

Ignorance can be fixed but stupid is forever.Law of Logical Argument - Anything is possible IF you don't know what you are talking about.

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Jim Beam in one hand, Airedale in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

hicntry wrote:I don't doubt it for a second MissK. I know people that feed whole, cooked ribs to their dogs that have never had a problem, but, it only takes once. The rib lets I feed are from the end of the rib and cut to a thickness of about 1/2 inch. They got a lot of stringy meat and fat in them and they are never cooked. I cringe when I see people feeding cooked bones, but, bottom line is that it is their dog.

Nice!! Mine wouldn't chew those, they'd swallow them whole. I'm currently dealing with the consequences of feeding beef knuckle bones (tooth fracture) and we'll do I know it's a preventable condition. But I'm prepared to do what's needed and the benefits are worthwhile to me for the time being.